CPCB threatens to shut unit of Panipat Thermal Power Station if emission norms deadline not met

The Central Pollution Control Board has issued a show-cause notice to the Panipat Thermal Power Station (PTPS) in Haryana, warning that one of its units could be shut down for failing to comply with the deadline to meet emission norms. "PTPS, HPGCL (Haryana Power Generation Corporation), Haryana, is hereby directed to show cause as to why unit 7 of the plant should not be closed in view of non-compliance," CPCB chairman S P Parihar said in the notice dated November 13.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had in 2015 come up with new norms for coal-based power plants to cut down emissions of particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and oxides of nitrogen. The earlier deadline for power stations to adhere to these guidelines was December 2017. However, 440 power plants that were to be retrofitted with modern flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) units, which cut emissions of sulfur dioxide, did not comply with the norms.

The Central Electricity Authority then chalked out a detailed plan to retrofit old thermal plants across the country with the required equipment to comply with the new norms by a 2022 deadline. For thermal power plants in the National Capital Region (NCR), the deadline was 2019. According to a Centre for Science and Environment report released in February this year, most power plants in Delhi-NCR will fail to meet the December 2019 deadline.

The Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority had earlier said Haryana's two coal-based power plants in NCR will be shut down if they fail to comply with emission norms by next year. The other thermal power plant in Haryana is in Jhajjar.

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